Robert F. Kennedy Jr. responded to smears lodged by Democrat Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett, who represents the U.S. Virgin Islands, on Thursday at the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government’s hearing on censorship.
Plaskett chose to use her five minutes of time to lambast Kennedy, seemingly painting him as an anti-vaxxer who has discouraged black individuals to get vaccinated — a point he vehemently denied. Ironically, Plaskett decried the fact a particular post from Kennedy was not censored, concluding it made her wonder “about the extent of censorship, when the post is still there.”
“But more importantly, again, I go back to just the fact that we are creating a platform for these for this kind of discussion, not about the censorship, not about free speech, but the content of some of that speech that we’re amplifying in this room. I’m appalled. And just so troubled by colleagues that I have to work with that these are individuals who would bring a witness who’s promoted a video that compared the COVID vaccine to the Tuskegee trials, the Tuskegee trials,” Plaskett said, asserting that such a comparison “preys on black people’s feelings about the atrocities of the past in order to prevent them from seeking life saving vaccines in the present.”
Notably, Plaskett did not acknowledge that the coronavirus vaccines neither prevents one from contracting the coronavirus nor does it prevent transmission, as President Biden and other officials originally pitched.
Representative Stacey Plaskett, a Democrat from the U.S. Virgin Islands and ranking member of the Weaponization of the Federal Government Subcommittee, during a hearing in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, March 30, 2023. (Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg via Getty)
She also brought Kennedy’s family into the mix, asserting that they disagree with his position. Yet, despite making a point out of that, she still claimed that it “doesn’t mean anything” as families disagree.
“You know, I’m not going to talk about the money that’s received from the Children’s Health Defense from his anti-vaccine organization that’s responsible for a majority of the false information about their out there about COVID and the notoriety that’s gained from it by manipulating black and other vulnerable communities to propagate these pseudo-sciences,” she added.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) later gave time for Kennedy to speak, which the presidential hopeful largely used to address Plaskett’s smears.
“The irony and cognitive dissonance from the other side of the aisle, it’s deafening. You could cut it with a knife. They are at the same time denying that censorship is occurring, but suggesting that there’s more material that needs to be censored,” Massie exclaimed.
“What you have stated and tried to associate me with through guilt by association is simply inaccurate, virtually everything. Every statement that you just made about me is inaccurate,” Kennedy said, making it clear that he is not anti-vaccine, nor has he told the public to avoid general vaccination.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., prepares to testify before a House Judiciary Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, July 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
“I believe vaccines should be tested with the same rigor as other medicines, medication. You tried to associate me a moment ago with the replacement theory which is racist,” he said before Plaskett attempted to respond.
“To say that, I wrote a I created a film that encourages blacks not to get adequate medical care is just completely abhorrent,” he continued, speaking against further “ad hominem attacks.”
Kennedy then defined malinformation as requested by Rep. Massie, explaining that it describes “information that Facebook and Twitter and the other social media sites understood was true, but the White House and other federal agencies wanted to censor anyway for political reasons because it challenged official orthodoxies.”
“I’ll give you one example. I was included in a group … and Facebook and others were asked to censor us, which they did,” he said, explaining that these determinations stemmed from a “very shady group,” the Center for Digital Hate “that’s funded by dark money,” which he said should be looked into.
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House Committee on the Judiciary / YouTube